Home minister warns of more islands being lost

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Smarting over the loss of the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan, home minister Hari Sabarno suggested the country exercise its sovereignty over remote islands by increasing its presence on these islands.

Hari said Indonesian sovereignty could be represented by monuments, security officers and communities of Indonesian citizens.

"The government, through the regional administrations overseeing outlying islands, must maintain the country's sovereignty through whatever means necessary to demonstrate this sovereignty. Otherwise, there will be more Sipadan-Ligitan cases," he said after opening a discussion titled Political Reflection and International Affairs here on Thursday.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague voted overwhelmingly in favor of Malaysia on Tuesday as the sovereign owner of the islands, located on the northernmost tip of East Kalimantan. The decision ended a three-decade-long legal battle between the neighboring Southeast Asian countries.

Hari said it was necessary for security forces to conduct patrols of the country's remote islands to ensure other parties did not attempt to seize the islands.

"If there is any attempt to annex islands, the country has the right to file a lawsuit based on legal or politics reasons. The suit could be settled through international law or bilateral cooperation."

There are at least 88 islands scattered across Riau, North Sulawesi, Maluku, West and East Nusa Tenggara and Papua, which are near neighboring ASEAN countries or Australia.

Most of these islands are neglected although they form part of the country's border. One such island, according to the House of Representatives, is Nipah in Riau.

Indonesia has over 17,000 islands, most of them uninhabited.

Hari said the country had neglected Sipadan and Ligitan, which Malaysia took advantage of. Government regulation in lieu of law No. 4/1960 on Indonesia's territorial waters failed even to mention the islands, he said.

The International Court of Justice ruled that neither Indonesia nor Malaysia had a title-based claim to the tiny islands, but Kuala Lumpur had shown "manifestations of state authority" over the islands, notably in the 1930s under British rule, while Indonesia did not protest Malaysia's actions until 1969.

"The verdict is heartbreaking but that's the court's decision and since 1997 both countries have been committed to settling the dispute through the court," Hari said.